Ravi was well aware of the deeply rooted caste system in India. He hails from a state where this evil system has been still in practice. While anticipating the incoming answer, his mind dragged to an incident back in his native place. He remembered hanging around with a lower caste friend, and how can he forget the scoldings he received later that day?

"Do you have any idea who that kid is?" His dad had said.

"A human, I guess." Ravi's voice dripped sarcasm.

"No! He's a lower born. Better don't hang out with him. Why don't you find upper caste friends like us?"

Ravi didn't understand back then why he shouldn't roam with his low caste friend since he was a kid. And one day he made a blunder by bringing his friend home. His friend was not just humiliated but kicked out of the home. The whole house was so-called purified with holy water from all five sacred rivers in India.

To see a dear friend treated in an inhumane way just because he was born in a low caste, Ravi's heart was washed over with guilt. Why I brought him home? I thought I would show Dad that my sweat and his sweat smells the same. So where is the caste difference? Ravi had thought like this.

Whenever he thinks about this incident, his heart gets a whoosh of pain. And now with same emotions, he looked at Braja. "We breath same air, blood's color is the same. Then what's the deal when it comes to caste?"

Braja's face turned sad as if he could feel the pain of being discriminated. He presented Ravi with a sympathetic glance. "You know, according to Gita. 5.18., we should see every living being with equal vision. Not just humans."

"Yeah right." Ravi interrupted, "But people don't follow this."

Braja heaved a sigh. "The caste system is indeed evil. Unfortunately, it was in the past and still present in the society, no denying of that. However, originally this caste system was known as the class system. The birth never determined one's class, but on one's own choice of work and nature since different people are good at different things. If people are engaged in what they are good at, then there can be a corporation. Brahmanas were intellectuals who used to guide society with their spiritual knowledge. Kshritya were the protectors of society. Vaisyas were merchants and traders. Shudra were workers who used to serve the rest.

"If you've observed, these four divisions are still present in our modern society in a perverted form. We have intellectuals (scientists, researchers, thinkers). We have administrators (politicians, police, soldiers). We have businessmen (shopkeepers to multinational companies). And then, we have employees as the working class."

Braja paused to see if the answer was making sense to Ravi and Sid, it was hard to figure out from their faces. He further explained that Plato, the famous Greek philosopher, he also talked about these divisions in the society. How can a non-Vedic personality have spoken about the similar concept? Because these division are natural whenever there is a society, there will be these four categories. However, birthright made it all wrong because those who were in power forgot its spiritual principle: to bring people together and give them material engagement which is harmonious with their nature.

Sid was slowly getting the drift of it, whereas Ravi was still struggling. Both of them understood that these four divisions are natural. A question, however, popped up Ravi's mind. What was the original intention behind this categorization? He asked.

"It was to give a person job satisfaction," Braja said quickly. "You guys must be aware of the suicide rates that students commit in India because they are pressurized to choose the career which they don't want to pursue. When certain professions—engineering and medicine, for example—are glamorized, everyone chases after them. Students in those fields undergo extreme, often maniac, competition. Many candidates vie for limited jobs. When students are educated contrary to their natures, they are unable to develop the competence."

Sid and Ravi both were taken aback on how these concepts are making perfect sense now as if things are falling in the right place. They are students, and they've been experiencing indecisiveness regarding their career. Most of the time no one guides you to choose an exact career because sometimes it becomes a headache to decide. Many time you find yourself to be equally interested in some profession, or not interested in studying itself.

That explains the whole thing, Sid thought with awe. He remembered the interview which he had given long ago, and the rush of inferiority complex that had stayed in his heart for a long time. That day, he felt like a misfit, who doesn't deserve to be in this world.

"But why only in India we have this kind of issues?" Ravi said. "That's why we are still a developing country."

"I'm afraid your historical knowledge is incomplete." Braja's voice held a tinge of sarcasm. "Media has only highlighted Indian caste system, and sometimes exaggerate it, but they don't show us grievous discrimination that had occurred in different parts of the world. For instance, we still have lower caste people living in India. The native Americans, however, faced completely eradicated. Same happened in South America, the original residents faced completely wiped out when European colonizers and missionaries had arrived there. When Africans were taken as slaves to the western countries, they were treated like animals, and still, they face racism.

"I'm not quoting these examples just to put the blame on others. The discrimination is a horrible fact of life. The cause of that is spiritual ignorance, to the extent we identify ourselves with our bodies. We will face discrimination. I'm low born, your high born, he's white, she's black, I'm an Indian, I'm a European. We should overcome these bodily designations and come on the platform to understand we all are an individual soul.

"It's interesting, we have an example from history. Without spiritual awareness, Karl Marx tried to create a classless society where everyone considered as equal, but it was a complete failure. It ended up with two division among the society; ruler and ruled. Rich became richer, poor became more miserable. Therefore, George Orwell in his book Animal Farm made a sarcastic comment. 'All people are equal but some people are more equal than others.'"

Ravi and Sid exchanged looks. What they've just heard?! However, they ended up chuckling.

"So what is the solution?" he said with a voice which was closer to laughter.

Braja smiled. "Until and unless people are not taught to develop spiritual consciousness. You know, from a casteist point of view, people outside India are considered lower than the low caste. In our Hare Krishna movement, however, we have non-Indian devotees who became so spiritually exalted that they are becoming spiritual masters of those who are born in Brahmana families. It's only Bhakti that can break all borders."

That's amazing; this was the words that came out from Sid and Ravi's mouth. Sid shot a glance at his friend, he could see his best friend's face was free from doubts or skepticism.

Sid didn't stop there. He asked various questions to Braja, who tirelessly kept on answering. Sid asked every question that once had bugged his mind. Slowly he was able to understand the instruction of mysterious person. The reason behind why it's so important to approach a guru. Sid's heart was overwhelmed with gratitude for the mysteries person.

"Look at the time." Braja pointed his index finger at a clock on the wall. Sid and Ravi darted their eyes at it. When they've started their discussion, the little hand of that clock was on four; now it came on eight and the big hand in the middle of the full circle.

"We should leave now."

"No," Braja said, getting up from his seat. "You guys tasted Krishna's philosophy. Now savor the food which is offered to Him."

He exploded out of the room, leaving Ravi and Sid with no option other than following him. He stopped at a food corner where other devotees were having dinner. He walked up straight to the man in charge and said: "These two devotees did some service, I need coupons for them."

The man in charge bowed down his head, his eyes lit up and face appeared like a bright moon. His body language showed that it was an honor for him.

Braja turned to Sid and Ravi, and thrown a smile at them, gesturing both of them to dig in. It was a buffet dinner. On the table, there were delectable cuisine, everything vegetarian, of course. A lump of saliva formed Ravi's mouth; he was the first who stood in a queue, followed by Sid.

Both of them sat on a table and started having the dinner. Ravi took a pile of corn cutlets and pieces of paneer (cottage cheese) on his plate because it was free. Never in years, he tasted such delicious food. Even his best friend was enjoying the food.

"Did you notice something?" he said while shoveling a sweet in his mouth.

"What?" Sid furrowed his brow.

"Braja lied to the man in charge that we did some service, but we were sitting in a cozy apartment."

Sid nodded gravely. Yes, that's true he did lie. Monks shouldn't suppose to lie, then how come he lied? Does Krishna teach that in Bhagavad Gita or Mahabharat? As if a brain wave brushed through his head, Sid blurted out. "Oh, no wonder, he is Krishna's devotee."

Both friends burst out in laughter. While they continued conversing, Braja also joined them on the table. There was one last question that Sid was yearning to ask. He couldn't restrain himself even after asking, like, hundred of questions. As if the smile is an inseparable part of his personality, Braja welcomed the question.

Sid sucked in a deep breath; it was cold. "Okay, this one is the last question I have."

Braja maintained an unblinking eye contact with Sid. He was happy to answer whatever coming to him because it's rare to see a youth asking profound questions. Just like a person feels elated to see his beloved, similarly, a Hare Krishna monk feels the same when someone asks him spiritual questions.

"You see," Sid began. "I remember a verse from Bhagavad Gita 7.16: Four kinds of pious people approach God – the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and one more which I don't remember.

"Anyway, I have one friend, Nikhil, as per this verse, he approached God due to distress. Because his stepmother used to treat him brutally, later she ditched them for some other man; his sister ran away with her boyfriend. He'd been through many hardships in his life. And then he became a devout follower of God."

Not bring out the topic of bigotry again, Sid didn't mention how fanatical Nikhil became later in his life. You're going to hell, Sid, you're worshipping Satan. False God! Pagan! You made fun of Christ; now you're doomed for eternity!

Sid had to shook his head to snap those curses out of his mind which was given by Nikhil. "Another friend of mine named Raj," he continued. "He approached God because of a financial crisis. His dad met with an accident. At that time they had no money for the operation, and then somehow or other he got the money from a church. Thus he became a believer of God."

These were probably two personal experience Sid had, but he didn't stop there. He winced at the thought why there are millions of people who have give-and-take policy with God whenever they approach Him? Children/teenagers go to God because of exams; matures for the well-being of their families or prosperity. At least this is what we see in our daily life.

Sid's head muddled with confusion as he was about to put forward his last question.

"But when I look at myself," he said. "My family doesn't have any financial crisis—we belong to an upper middle class—I have loving parents, have all the luxuries, everything that half of the country's population don't have. But still..." Sid's throat became tight, and he paused abruptly. Braja could understand emotions that were playing tug of war in the latter's mind. "But still I'm mysteriously attracted to God. Despite having all luxuries, I felt there's more to the life. My life is not just about studying, having a job, getting married and then die. I always wanted to know what is the ultimate purpose of my life, why I even born, why everything's temporary here—friends, family, wealth, life, money—you name it. Why am I like this? And when—"

"Because you're special." Braja interrupted because he understood the question already. "You know who is that fourth kind of person in BG.7.16; you were talking? One who is searching for the knowledge of God."

Am I special? Sid's twinkled with awe, and there was a part in him which was prompting him that it must be flattery. His heart raced up like a motor engine.

A big slow-motion smile formed on Braja's lips. "Did you never think why you're so different than others? Why you're so philosophical? Why you own an introspective mind? Why does in every incident of your life you become so self-reflective? It's because only one among thousands endeavor to find spiritual truths. And among those thousands, a rare person gets to know God. You have passed thousand and thousand of birth to come on this level where you are now." Braja paused dramatically and leaned forward. "I'm not saying this, Bhagavad Gita says it."

When Braja's words crept into Sid's heart, he felt his whole body numbed with ecstasy; his throat began to close up. He knew there was something unusual about him and Braja hit a bull's-eye on Sid's life histories without even knowing him completely. How does he know it?!

"You are indeed intelligent."

Sid thought this compliment was getting cliche but what Braja said next slammed him against the reality. "I've seen more intelligent people than you, who were on their spiritual journeys but at a certain point, they just fell away. Cause they—" Braja's voice trailed off; he stopped because of the hesitation to speak further since he doubted if it's the right time to talk about it.

"Because?" Sid could mumble this only, he wanted to talk more, but words couldn't make past his throat.

"Because..." A faint smile returned on Braja's lips. "They didn't develop The Krishna Love. If the spiritual knowledge didn't get fructify into the love of God, then it's just waste of time. You may become the world's greatest scholar in the future, but if you don't have the love for God. You're good for nothing."

Sid's heart hammered against his chest. He felt a new dimension has opened up before him. How can I have this love in my life? All the time he chased after answers, ignoring unconsciously where this quest will lead him. The excitement brought new energy to his body because he was on the stage to unlock the perfection of yoga, the essence of spirituality. The Krishna Love, he thought.

******

A/N: Wow I never thought I could update this chapter so soon. I hope you have loved the answers of Braja. Please, vote and do comment.